September 15, 2006 (ALEXANDRIA, VA) – The Honorable Madeleine K. Albright, former United States Secretary of State, spoke to over 600 guests last night at Virginia Theological Seminary (VTS), offering observations on ethics, foreign policy, the war in Iraq, and inter-religious understanding – all topics from her latest best-selling book, The Mighty and the Almighty: Reflections on God, America, and World Affairs.

Madeleine K. Albright

“The Seminary is my kind of place,” stated Secretary Albright, “its outlook is global. VTS matters because the world in the 21st century needs so much more of what you are teaching. In every sense of the concept, people from around the globe must learn to live in communion with one another… together, we must make room for better options.”

“I do not know more about religion than anybody else,” Albright continued, “but I do know something about world affairs. What encourages me is that, for all the differences of doctrine, the underlying values of most religions are similar – the golden rule has roots in almost every culture. What worries me, as one who believes in the importance of American leadership, is that U.S. foreign policy has become profoundly unpopular around the globe – and one reason is the way we think and talk about religion.”

Albright cautioned that, while “the expression of moral leadership is often essential”, the United States plays into the hands of al-Qaeda when it “comes close” to equating its policies with the will of God and by referring to its fight against terror as a battle between good and evil. “We will never unite the world around the idea that to oppose America is to pick a fight with God.”

At the conclusion of her remarks, Albright read an excerpt from The Mighty and the Almighty, “As the world’s most powerful democracy, America should help others who desire help to establish and strengthen free institutions.  But, in so doing, we should remember that promoting democracy is a policy not a mission, and policies must be tested on the hard ground of diplomacy, practical politics and respect for international norms...  though America may be exceptional, we cannot demand that exceptions be made for us.  We are not above the law, nor do we have a divine calling to spread democracy any more than we have a national mission to spread Christianity.  We have, in short, the right to ask—but never simply to insist or blithely assume—that God Bless America.”

After a rousing standing ovation, Secretary Albright was given a thank you gift by the Student Body President, Steven Pankey (Diocese of Central Pennsylvania). Edwin K. Hall, Vice President of Institutional Advancement, thanked Secretary Albright by stating, “At the end of Secretary Albright’s most recent book she refers to President Lincoln appealing in the aftermath of the Civil War, to the ‘Better Angels of Our Nature’ --- summoning our capacity to care for one another, in ways that cannot fully be explained by self interest, logic or science’.  In my view, Secretary Albright, you must have been listening to Lincoln’s appeal throughout your distinguished career, a career that exemplifies a passionate care for your country and for the rights of people throughout the world.”

Madeleine K. Albright served as the 64th Secretary of State of the United States. In 1997, she was named the first woman Secretary of State and became, to that time, the highest ranking woman in the history of the US government. From 1993 to 1997, Dr. Albright was the United States permanent representative to the United Nations.  Dr. Albright is the founder of The Albright Group, a global strategy firm, and the Mortara Professor in the Practice of Diplomacy at the Georgetown School of Foreign Service.  She is also the Chair of The National Democratic Institute for International Affairs, Co-Chair of a new high-level Commission associated with the United Nations on Legal Empowerment of the Poor, and serves on the board of directors of the Council on Foreign Relations and the Aspen Institute.  Dr. Albright is the New York Time's best-selling author of both Madam Secretary: A Memoir, published in 2003, and her new book entitled The Mighty and the Almighty—Reflections on America, God, and World Affairs, published in May 2006.

Virginia Theological Seminary, founded in 1823, is the largest of the 11 accredited seminaries of the Episcopal Church. The school prepares men and women, representing all eight of the domestic provinces of the Episcopal Church, as well as students from several different provinces and countries within the Anglican Communion, for service in the Church, both as ordained and lay ministers, and offers a number of professional degree programs and diplomas.